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Just
outside this Gardens area, between the Gardens and the road, is
a grassy strip with a small number of lawn graves. Here, in an unmarked
grave plot near the curb, is Oscar-winning actor George C. Scott
(1927-1999).

Best known for his role as "Patton,"
George C. Scott starred in over 75 productions, including "The Hustler," "Dr.
Strangelove," "Anatomy of a Murder," "The Hospital,"
"Firestarter," "Taps," "Hardcore,"
"The Changling," and exceptional TV versions
of "Jane Eyre," "Inherit the Wind" and
"A Christmas Carol." And who could forget his eccentric
'Sherlock Holmes' in "They Might be Giants"?

Ironically, he may be most remembered for an award
he refused to accept; he made headlines when he turned down the 1971 Oscar
for "Patton," because he didn't feel that he was in competition
with other actors. Unfortunately, his grave still doesn't have a marker.
However, I've confirmed that he is located immediately to the left of Walter
Matthau's grave. It's the only remaining space there which still has a
blank headstone.

Another resident at Pierce Bros is 'Oscar Madison' himself,
comic actor Walter Matthau (1920-2000).
Often playing a crotchety sort, Walter was wonderfully paired with Jack Lemmon
for "The Odd Couple," and again, almost 30 years
later, for "Grumpy Old Men." He was the cantankerous 'Mr.
Wilson' in 1993's "Dennis the Menace," the reluctant
coach in "The Bad News Bears," an aging vaudeville
comic feuding with partner George Burns in "The Sunshine Boys,"
and
the grouchy 'Horace Vandergelder ' to Barbra Streisand's 'Dolly Levi' in
"Hello Dolly." He also starred in "Cactus Flower," "Plaza
Suite" and "Kotch."

His grave has a large marble headstone - it's located
right along the curb, on the south side of the main road, just north of
the new Memorial Gardens area, and just to the right (west) of (unmarked)
George C. Scott.

And
in July of 2001, almost a year to the day, Walter's lifelong friend and
fellow actor JackLemmon(1925-2001) was
also buried at Pierce Bros.

Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau made 10
movies together, beginning with the classic 1968 comedy "The Odd Couple,"
and including "The Fortune Cookie," "The Front Page"
and (near the end of their lives) "Grumpy Old Men." (Jack
even directed Walter in "Kotch".)

So the fact that they ended up together at Pierce
Bros. is more than appropriate.

But Jack Lemmon
was an outstanding actor in his own right, starring in comedies such as
"Mr. Roberts," "Bell, Book and Candle,"
"The Apartment," "Irma La Douce,"
"Good Neighbor Sam," and "The Out-of-Towners,"
yet also brilliant in dramas such as "The Days of Wine and Roses,"
"Save the Tiger," "The China Syndrome" and
"Missing." And who can forget "Some Like
It Hot," with Jack in drag opposite Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe?
He was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won two, becoming the first
actor to win both a Best Actor and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Jack Lemmon was buried in a new row of graves on
the lawn between Walter's location and the chapel entrance. If you're facing
Walter's grave, just turn right and walk west along the curb, and look
to your left (south) until you spot a long hedge. Walk around the hedge
and you'll find a row of large marble headstones (identical to the kind
above Walter's grave) up on the lawn a few paces.

A joker to the last, his headstone reads

"Jack Lemmon in..."

Just
to the left (east) of Jack Lemmon, in the very next grave, is veteran actor
Carroll O'Connor (1924-2001),
TV's "Archie Bunker" on the smash hit sitcom "All
in the Family."

Debuting in 1971, at the peak of the 60's anti-war
movement, "All in the Family" was revolutionary for its
day. At a time when most sitcoms were lightweight comedies such as "The
Brady Bunch", "Family" was breaking taboos
left and right, dealing with controversial, current issues ranging from
Watergate to rape, and tackling hot targets from the KKK to the Jewish
Defense League with sharp political satire, sexual frankness and occasional
bathroom humor. It attacked bigotry by making it look ridiculous.

But it was Carroll O'Connor's portrayal of 'Archie
Bunker' that made the show work.

Carroll
appeared in almost 50 productions, including the role of 'Sheriff Bill
Gillespie' in the TV series "In The Heat of the Night",
plus the movies "Cleopatra," "Hawaii"
and "Kelly's Heroes." It's a tribute to his acting ability
that he was best known worldwide as the lovable bigot Archie, who Rob Reiner
called "the single most indelible character in the history of American
television." It was easy to forget that Carroll was actually a liberal
in real life when he took on the fiery persona of that died-in-the-wool,
cigar-chomping, Nixon-loving conservative from Queens, who
called his son-in-law 'Meathead' and told his wife 'Edith' to "Stifle!".
Yet Archie developed as a surprisingly complex character, sympathetic despite
his obvious faults. The show was a tremendous hit.

Carroll died of a heart attack in June of 2001. His
funeral was held at the nearby St. Paul the Apostle Church in Westwood.
His grave is located directly between those of Jack Lemmon and Billy Wilder.

[ Also buried here is Carroll's adopted son, Hugh O'Connor(1962-1995), who played 'Lt. Lonnie Jamison'
on his father's show ("In the Heat of the Night"). Unfortunately,
plagued by drug problems, the young man shot himself in 1995. ]

And
what do Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin, and
Ray Walston all have in common? They all starred in landmark films for
the great director Billy Wilder(1906-2002).

He was nominated for an Academy Award over 20 times,
and won seven Oscars - for "Sunset Blvd.," "The
Lost Weekend" and "The Apartment."

He died in March of 2002, less than a year after
he attended Jack's funeral here. Billy was buried just two graves down
(to the east) from Jack Lemmon (and immediately to the left of Carroll
O'Connor) in the same row of new graves with marble headstones.

His headstone bears the punchline from his best-known
film, "Some Like It Hot".

This
particular
row of graves, that already included stars Jack Lemmon,
Carroll O'Connor and Billy Wilder, gained even more luster
in 2011, when TV's "Columbo",Peter Falk(1927-2011), was buried here as well.

You'll find his grave behind a wrought iron fence (but clearly visible), just to the left of Billy Wilder.

Peter Falk was best known as the rumpled
raincoat-wearing Lieutenant Columbo, whose bumbling, absentminded
demeanor masked a keen mind, and whose unassuming, polite (but
relentless) methods caused his often-brilliant adversaries to
underestimate him as an incompetent pest - much to their own
disadvantage.

Between
1972 and 1994, he was nominated for ten Emmy awards (for Best Actor)
for playing that beloved detective character, and won four of them.

Besides "Columbo" (and many other TV appearances), Falk appeared in a number of movies, including one of the funniest (and strangest) comedies you'll ever see: 1979's "The In-Laws", as well as "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", "Murder By Death", and as the grandfather/narrator in "The Princess Bride".

He was a favorite of director John Cassavetes
(also buried at Westwood), and starred in several of Cassavetes' movies,
including "Husbands" and "A Woman Under the Influence".

He was nominated for two Academy Awards, for "Murder Inc." and "Pocketful of Miracles".

In
October of 2004, stand-up comic Rodney Dangerfield(1921-2004) was buried at Pierce Bros.
Best known for his famous line "I don't get no respect!", but
at Rodney's funeral, comics Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey were
pallbearers, while Jay Leno, Tim Allen, Chris Rock, Jon Lovitz,
Louie Anderson, George Lopez, and others celebs attended.

Besides
his stand-up career, Rodney also appeared in several movies, most notably
"Caddyshack" and "Back to School"-
usually playing a loveable but disgruntled slob with a tendency to insult
people with his outrageous style. He also played the Devil in "Little Nicky",
and had a rare dramatic role as an abusive father in "Natural Born Killers."

His grave is easy to find. It's right at the curb,
on the south side of the park, in front of the markers of Jack Lemmon,
Billy Wilder and Carroll O'Connor. And the epitaph perfectly matches
Rodney's screen persona: "There Goes The Neighborhood."

Also
located near the curb, to the left of Rodney Dangerfield and to the right
of George C. Scott, is the grave of showman Merv Griffin (1925-2007).

Merv
was best known as a talk show host, back in the Golden Age of talk shows,
going up against Johnny Carson himself.

"The Merv Griffin Show" (with British sidekick
Arthur Treacher) ran from 1962 to 1986, and certainly gave "The
Tonight Show" a run for its money.

Mr, Griffin was also a successful singer, and an
occasional actor. He won 17 Emmys and had a star on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame.

But as an off-camera entrepreneur, Merv created two
of the biggest hit TV game shows to ever grace the airwaves: "Jeopardy"
and "Wheel of Fortune" (he even wrote their memorable theme songs),
and owned the Beverly Hilton
hotel, amassing a fortune estimated at $1 billion.

Just
to the right of Merv, also near the curb, is the grave of actress Farrah Fawcett(1947-2009).

Farrah was best known as one of TV's original "Charlie's
Angels", as well as for her marriage to "Six Million Dollar Man"
actor Lee Majors, and her long relationship with actor Ryan O'Neal.

And who can forget that famous poster of Farrah in
a red swimsuit, that made her America's favorite pin-up in the 1970's?

In
addition to "Angels", Farrah also starred in a number of topical
dramas, including "Extremities" and "The Burning Bed".

She and Ryan O'Neal reunited in her last days, and
there was even talk of an upcoming marriage, but alas, Farrah died of cancer
before that could happen.

She also had the misfortune of dying on the same
day as Michael Jackson, and the massive mourning for that superstar eclipsed
media coverage of her own passing.

In
January of 2001, veteran character actor Ray Walston(1914-2001) had
his memorial service at Pierce Bros. Ray Walston was known more recently
for his work as a judge on the TV series "Picket Fences,"
but is perhaps best known for his lead role in the TV series "My Favorite Martian" (in
which he co-starred with Bill Bixby), not to mention his memorable role
as the teacher 'Mr. Hand' in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High,"
and his classic performance as the Devil in the Broadway musical "Damn Yankees."
Unfortunately, Ray wasn't buried at Pierce Bros, they just handled the
funeral. He was cremated, and his ashes were returned to his home in Beverly Hills.

In January of 2008, a memorial service for actor
Heath Ledger (star of "Brokeback
Mountain" and "A Knight's Tale") was held
at Pierce Bros. His body was flown in to Westwood from Manhattan, after
his tragic death at age 28. But he was to be buried in his home of Perth,
Australia.

Many expected thatZsa Zsa Gabor,
who died in late 2016, would be buried here at Pierce Bros, where her
sister, Ava Gabor, is already interred. However, there seemed to be a
dispute in the family about that, and at her funeral in Beverly Hills,
Zsa Zsa's husband displayed an urn containing her ashes, and declared
that she would be taken to Austria and buried next to her father.
So, as far as I know, her ashes are either resting in Austria, or else
perhaps still sitting on the mantle of her husband's (and her former)
home in Bel-Air.

A final resting place among the stars here at Pierce
Bros Westwood Memorial Park will reportedly cost $40,000 or more. In
fact, Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner
paid a hefty sum ($75,000) 20 years ago to purchase the crypt just to the left of Marilyn
Monroe (click here to read about Marilyn's grave) - who was his first Playboy "Playmate."

But it costs nothing to visit.

If you need assistance finding a particular grave,
don't be afraid to ask the people in the office - on the south side of
the park. They are usually very helpful. (In fact, I've been told
that they sometimes hand out copies of my own map
of the park.)

Parking:
There is a circular driveway/road which leads through the cemetery grounds.
(Be sure to bear to your right when you approach the cemetery's wrought-iron
gates, or else you will end up in a parking garage meant for the local office towers.)

Hours: Daily:
8 AM - 5 PM.

Getting there:
The cemetery is difficult to find, hidden away in Westwood, immediately
south of Wilshire Boulevard on Glendon Avenue, between Malcom (on the east)
& Wellworth Avenues (on the south). The only access is from the east
side of Glendon Avenue, up a small driveway between the pink-stone skyscraper
on the southeast corner of Glendon & Wilshire and the parking garage
just south of that skyscraper. (Don't confuse this
small park with the huge Veteran's cemetery located north of Wilshire,
near the 405.) / From Rodeo Drive, take Wilshire
Boulevard west (about two and a half miles) to Glendon Avenue (which is
one block before Westwood Boulevard), and turn left (south) on Glendon.
Then immediately turn left (east) up the driveway, and then turn right
again (south) into the gates of the small cemetery. (If you look carefully,
you will spot a small, square pink-stone sign off Glendon reading "Pierce Bros
Westwood Village Memorial Park.") / From the San Diego (405) Freeway,
take the Wilshire Boulevard exit and go east on Wilshire one half mile to Glendon
Avenue (the first street east of Westwood Boulevard).

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